3500 cm² is an initiative dedicated to the dissemination of contemporary artworks, conceived and curated by Lorenzo Benedetti. The 3,500 cm² represent the space available to each artist to create a 50 × 70 cm poster, with the aim of bringing contemporary art closer to a broad and diverse audience, beyond the traditional boundaries of exhibitions. The posters, distributed free of charge, are designed to circulate across the territory in an open and democratic way, making art accessible and inclusive.

History of 3500 cm²

3500 cm² was founded in Rome in 2004 as part of the BlueRoom project at Rialto Sant’Ambrogio, an independent space that became an important reference point for social and cultural artistic experimentation. The idea at the core of the initiative is simple yet powerful: to use the poster format as an accessible and widespread exhibition space, transforming the city into a platform for contemporary art. From the outset, 3500 cm² has involved artists from different generations and backgrounds, commissioning works conceived to be experienced in public space, opening up the frontiers of art beyond the constraints of the gallery or museum.

The initiative soon expanded beyond the borders of Rome, finding a place within international institutions, including museums, art centres and biennials, which recognised in the poster format an innovative way of disseminating art. Over the years, 3500 cm² has appeared in various locations, bringing its posters to cities such as Ljubljana, Berlin, Paris and many others. This expansion has helped to broaden the dialogue between artists and audiences, while maintaining a strong connection with the urban and social context in which the posters are displayed. Today, 3500 cm² continues to exist as an evolving platform, adapting to transformations in the artistic landscape and to new ways of experiencing art in public space.

In its most recent developments, 3500 cm² is further widening its scope, bringing art into non-conventional contexts with broad public visibility. This new chapter stems from the desire to reach even more diverse audiences, intervening in places where art can have a direct impact on everyday life, offering moments of reflection, connection and visual breathing space. The expansion of 3500 cm² into different types of public environments responds to the need to rethink the role of art in more sensitive contexts, transforming the poster into a device for encounter and perceptual stimulation. At the same time, its presence in high-traffic spaces allows the initiative to reinforce its founding principle: taking art beyond traditional circuits and making it accessible to a wide and transversal public. This new phase of 3500 cm² confirms its vocation as an open and adaptable format, capable of engaging with ever-changing contexts while preserving its core essence: that of a diffuse, free and radically public exhibition.

3500 cm² is evolving towards the idea of a dispersed museum, in which art is no longer confined to an institutional space but is permanently distributed across different public sites. Through the circulation of posters in very diverse urban contexts, the initiative transforms the city into a continuous exhibition platform, accessible to everyone without physical or economic barriers. This mode of permanent display overturns the traditional concept of the museum, making the artistic experience an integral part of everyday life. The posters are no longer temporary events or occasional initiatives, but stable elements that integrate into the environment, generating new relationships with the public and the territory. The idea of a dispersed museum pursued by 3500 cm² is grounded in the democratization of access to art: any space can become an exhibition venue, and any passer-by an unwitting visitor. In this way, art inserts itself into the flows of urban life, creating an open and ongoing dialogue between the work, its context and the public.